Attention to art and culture goes far back in the history of economic thought. In the seventeenth century those activities were viewed suspiciously as likely to be either wasteful extravagances of the aristocracy, or dangerous distractions for the working classes. Eighteenth century economic...

Most people think of science and literature as distinct human endeavours. According to received convention, science is mostly about "mind", whereas literature is largely about "heart". Science, goes the argument, is by and large rational, literature primarily emotional. Science is about...

I want to begin directly with an observation that may surprise some people: that Karl Polanyi - who, to the extent that he is celebrated at all in the United States, is known primarily as an economic historian and the virtual founder of economic anthropology - was not an economist at all....